A Review of Self-regulated Learning: Six Models and Four Directions for Research

Pintrich’s work continues to be important in the field as he made a major contribution toward clarifying the SRL conceptual framework (e.g., Pintrich and de Groot, 1990), he conducted crucial empirical work on the relationship of SRL and motivation (Pintrich et al., 1993a), and his questionnaire -MSLQ- (Pintrich et al., 1993b) continues to be widely used (Schunk, 2005; Moos and Ringdal, 2012).

History and Development of the Model

Pintrich was one of the first to analyze the relationship between SRL and motivation empirically (Pintrich and de Groot, 1990), theoretically (Pintrich, 2000), and the lack of connections between motivation and cognition (Pintrich et al., 1993a). Further, he later emphasized and clarified the differences between metacognition and self-regulation (Pintrich et al., 2000) and pointed out the areas of SRL that needed further exploration (Pintrich, 1999). In terms of the model itself, there is only one version of it, the one presented in the first handbook of SRL (Pintrich, 2000).

Pintrich’s SRL Model

According to Pintrich (2000) model, SRL is compounded by four phases: (1) Forethought, planning and activation; (2) Monitoring; (3) Control; and (4) Reaction and reflection. Each of them has four different areas for regulation: cognition, motivation/affect, behavior and context. That combination of phases and areas offers a comprehensive picture that includes a significant number of SRL processes (e.g., prior content knowledge activation, efficacy judgments, self-observations of behavior) (see Figure 10). Furthermore, in that chapter, Pintrich (2000) explained in great detail how the different SRL components/areas for regulation are deployed in the different phases. Next how the different areas were conceptualized will be shortly presented. First, in terms of regulation of cognition, Pintrich incorporated metacognitive research such as judgments of learning and feelings of knowing. This incorporation emphasizes how important is cognition for Pintrich’s. Regarding the second area, regulation of motivation and affect, Pintrich explained that motivation and affect could be regulated by the students based on his own empirical work (Pintrich et al., 1993a; Pintrich, 2004). Three years later, Wolters (2003) continued this line of work finding more empirical evidence. The third area, regulation of behavior, is based on the work by Bandura (1977, 1986, 1997) and the Triadic model by Zimmerman (1989). In this area Pintrich incorporated the “individual’s attempts to control their own overt behavior” (Pintrich, 2000, p. 466). There is no other SRL model analyzed here that comprehends such area, making Pintrich’s in this sense unique. And, fourth area, the regulation of context which Pintrich included because it addresses those aspects of SRL in which the students attempt to “monitor, control and regulate the (learning) context” (p. 469).

Empirical Evidence Supporting Pintrich’s SRL Model

There is no empirical evidence directly addressing Pintrich’s model validation. However, there is empirical data on the validation of the MSLQ, questionnaire that is the initial empirical work in which Pintrich based his SRL model. That instrument will be analyzed in the next section. Additionally, in a special issue dedicated to his memory, Schunk (2005) reviewed Pintrich’s major contributions to the SRL field identifying six different areas: (a) a conceptual framework and model for SRL (just described in the previous section); (b) the role of motivation in SRL with a special focus on goal orientation; (c) the relationship between SRL, motivation and learning outcomes; (d) the role of classroom contexts in SRL and motivation; (e) the development of SRL through empirical studies; and (f) the development of an instrument to measure SRL (MSLQ).

Instruments and Measurement Methods

One major contribution to the SRL field is the MSLQ (Pintrich et al., 1993b). The MSLQ is composed of 15 scales, divided into a motivation section with 31 items, and a learning strategies (SRL) section with 50 items which are subdivided into three general types of scales: cognitive, metacognitive, and resource management (Duncan and McKeachie, 2005). One of the strengths of the MSLQ is its combination of SRL and motivation, which offers detailed information about students’ learning strategies use. Two versions of the questionnaire have been developed for college (Pintrich et al., 1993b) and high school students (Pintrich and de Groot, 1990). For further information on the instrument Duncan and McKeachie (2005) and Moos and Ringdal (2012) provided a list of studies that have used MSLQ. More recently, two reviews have found that the MSLQ is the most used instrument in SRL measurement (Roth et al., 2016) and in self-efficacy measurement (Honicke and Broadbent, 2016). This emphasizes the highly significant impact of Pintrich’s work in SRL.

Efklides: The Missing Piece between Metacognition and SRL

Efklides (2011) model has a stronger metacognitive background than the other models, except Winne and Hadwin’s which is also metacognitively based. However, when comparing with the latter in Efklides’ model motivation and affect occupy a central role in Efklides’ figure. The model has been cited a significant number of times despite being recently published.

History and Development of the Model

Efklides (2011) presented the Metacognitive and Affective Model of Self-Regulated Learning (MASRL) in 2011, which extended her ideas previously published in two theoretical articles (Efklides, 2006, 2008). The model is grounded in classic socio-cognitive theory (Bandura, 1986), as stated by the author herself. Efklides has been influenced by the existing SRL models, along with metacognitive models such as those created by Dunlosky and Metcalfe (2008), Ariel et al. (2009), and Koriat and Nussinson (2009). The distinction of Efklides with the metacognitive models mentioned is that hers is theoretically grounded on previous SRL models (e.g., Zimmerman’s Winne and Hadwin’s, and Pintrich’s). Additionally, Efklides’ model adds to the other SRL models analyzed here, a thorough presentation of the implications of metacognitive models for SRL.

MASRL Model

In the MASRL, there are two levels (Figure 11). First, there is the Person level-also called macrolevel-which is the most “traditional” view of SRL and comprehends the personal characteristics of the student. In Efklides’ own words: “The Person level represents a generalized level of SRL functioning. It is operative when one views a task resorting mainly on memory knowledge, skills, motivational and metacognitive beliefs, and affect” (Efklides, 2011, p. 10). Therefore, it is composed of: (a) cognition, (b) motivation, (c) self-concept, (d) affect, (e) volition, (f) metacognition in the form of metacognitive knowledge, and (g) metacognition in the form of metacognitive skills. A key aspect is that Efklides considers the Person level to be top–down because it is structured around students’ goals for the task. In other words, the thrust of the student’s goals “guides cognitive processing and the amount of effort” the student will invest, a decision based “on the interactions of the person’s competences, self-concept in the task domain, motivation, and affect, vis-à-vis the perception of the task and its demands” (Efklides, 2011, p. 12).

The second level, the Task × Person level–also known as microlevel–is where the interaction between the type of task and the student’s characteristics –i.e., person level–takes place. This level is bottom–up, as the metacognitive activity takes control of the student’s actions, which causes activity to be “data-driven” with the focus on addressing the demands of the specific task. To put it more simply, the student’s attention moves toward the specific mechanisms of performing the task, and the general learning goal (for example, finishing a summary) is subsumed in a more specific goal (for example, checking for spelling mistakes). Here, the microlevel monitoring is the main process; motivation and affect reactions depend on the evolution of the metacognitive resources and the feedback that comes from the person’s performance – i.e., if s/he is progressing appropriately. Finally, Efklides identifies four basic functions at this level: (a) cognition, (b) metacognition, (c) affect, and (d) regulation of affect and effort, which can be conceptualized independently, vertically, or, in an integrative way, horizontally (see Figure 11).

This distinction between the Person level and the Task × Person level is probably the most salient feature of the MARSL model. The Person level represents the general trait-oriented features of students’ SRL, which are goal-driven and top–down. At this level, the MASRL model is similar to other more person-level-oriented models, such as Zimmerman’s (2000). At the Task × Person level, the actions that take place are less conscious and person-oriented: the execution of the task occupies most of the student’s attention and processing, and the actions are data-driven and bottom–up, showing similarities with Winne’s (2011).

In sum, the MASRL model clarifies, in detail, the relationship among metacognition, motivation, and affect via the interaction of the macro and micro levels, and presents a different conceptualization of the top–down/bottom–up implications from the one provided by Boekaerts and Corno (2005). Importantly, the model also illustrates how students perform during the task execution, the phase with the highest cognitive load where all the cognitive resources are leading the activity.

Empirical Evidence Supporting the MASRL Model

Efklides (2011) explored the basic MASRL features that have received empirical support by reviewing a compelling amount of evidence from the last two decades. First, she presented the three basic tenets of the model that the empirical evidence needs to address: (a) identifying the MASRL’s two levels (macro- and microlevel), the effects of the task demands on both levels, and what the interactions among them are; (b) the interaction of motivation and affect in the two levels; and (c) the different forms that metacognition takes at both levels. Then she argued that research showing interactions among metacognition, motivation, and affect at the two levels and their interaction actually supports the model. Finally, she presented a large number of studies addressing some of these aspects, grouped in different sections such as “Relations of cognition, metacognition and motivation/affect at the Task × Person level” or “Effects of affect on metacognitive experiences.”

Instruments and Measurement Methods

There are two instruments that reflect aspects of the MASRL model. First, Dermitzaki and Efklides (2000) constructed a questionnaire to measure self-concept for a language task. This instrument compares students’ language performance against the four reported categories: self-perception, self-efficacy, self-esteem, and perception of their abilities by others. The interaction of these components is a key aspect of the MASRL model as, for example, these interact at both the Person and the Person × Task levels with metacognition. Secondly, Efklides (2002) created the Metacognitive Experiences Questionnaire, which explores judgments and feelings about cognitive processing. In that paper, the relationship between metacognitive experiences and performance was explored, as well as the effect of task difficulty on metacognitive experiences.